Time Best Spent
by DepressingGreenie
Summary: Nat and Steve spend some down time together between missions. [Gen] #Happy Steve Rogers, #happy Natasha Romanov, #Fingernail Painting, #Fluff, #Fluff Bingo


With a huff Steve turns off the TV. He and Nat had decided to spend the afternoon together, but she had been delayed by an unforeseen meeting. He had let himself in to her apartment knowing she wouldn't mind. If had known her meeting was going to take this long he would have gotten some lunch or go for a quick run.

Steve shift around to drape over the back of the couch. He casts an eye around the place. Looking for something to occupy his time instead of what was being shown of the TV. Nat's apartment is neat and tidy. Normally she would have a few things left out, not today however. Not even some book to read or the likes. Nothing.

He gets up off the couch with a sigh and moves to the hallway. The door to Nat's bedroom is wide open. He's been in there before and Nat wouldn't mind. She normally had a book or two on her nightstand.

Steve wonders in and looks around the room. An iridescent silver bag lays on her bed. He knows the bag and what it holds.

Bitting his lower lip he slowly walks over the bag. Carefully he unzips it and empties the contents onto the bed. Various makeup products spill out. Steve has eyes for one.

He sets the vials on nail polish aside and put the rest of the makeup back. Sorting through them he puts away the colors he isn't interested in; a lot of pinks, browns and creams.

An idea comes to mind and he smiles. He picks out a glittery deep mid blue, a rich red and a white. He rips up the bag and move back into the livingroom with his colors.

He opens the blue and begins painting his nails, enjoying the way the brush feels as he works. Steve's focus narrows to his hands and carefully applying the polish.

Stroke after careful stroke, his nails are soon blue. He holds his hands out carefully and blows on them. He eyes the red and white eagerly, but he remembers what Nat said about waiting for this stuff to dry before moving on to the next coat. Whenever he painted Nat's nails time always seemed to go faster than this.

When they dry Steve moves himself over to the couch and turns the TV on. He then sets about applying a second coat of blue. As his nails dry he watches the documentary playing on the TV.

With the second coat dry he paints the bottom half of his nails white. The white polish is thicker than the blue, needing only one coat. It is a nice white, almost pearlescent. The soft glow of it stands out wonderfully against the shimmery blue.

After the white coat is dry he sets about painting vertical red stripes down the white of his nails. He hunches over his hands, putting all his effort in getting the lines straight and equally sized.

He hears keys in the front door before he could move on to his right hand.

"Steve?" Nat calls out.

"Livingroom" he responds.

Steve listens to her footsteps as he comes over, going back to painting his nails. He is almost done. He was thinking about maybe putting a star on the blues but he doesn't think has the skill for that. The brush was hard to use, a lot harder than his paint brushes and on such a small canvas. Maybe he would have to settle on spots instead.

"I got us burgers" Nat says as he walks up behind the couch. "What's this?" she asks and Steve can hear the smile on her face.

Steve allows himself to smile in response. "You know what" he says. "What do you think?" he asks holding up his left hand.

Nat laughs at him when she sees his nail. "Really?" she says, "Cute, though"

Steve shrugs and goes sets about finishing the last few stripes. "I don't think I can do the stars though" he admits.

"I'll do them for you" she says and walks over to the kitchen.

She returns with a tooth pick. "Give me your hand and the white" she says, reaching out for him.

He gives her his hand and watches as she puts a drop of white on the blue of his thumb. Her hand is warm underneath his. Carefully she uses the tooth pick to pull out the sides of the blob to form the points of a star. It almost reminds him of watching her pick locks.

One by one Nat paints the stars onto his nails. He can smell the burgers sitting on the counter. They smell good. Silently he eggs her on to finish his nails faster. Even after this he will have to wait for them to dry.

When she finishes he gives a look to the burgers. Maybe he could convince her to feed him some if he is cute enough. He turns to Nat to try his luck when he notices a gleam in her eye.

Nat gives his shoulder a consoling pat, "Not done yet. You need a clear top coat to finish it. Can't let all that work go to waste, can we?". She smiles as she gets up off the couch and heads of to her room to fetch the top coat.

Steve fall back into the couch with a whine. "Nat! Nat, c'mon" he calls out. He can hear her laugh down the hall. "Please?" he says.

"Who was it who said just the other day, 'if you're gonna do a job, do it right'?" she says as she enters the room. "Another half an hour won't kill you, Steve"

Nat sits down on the couch next to him and holds her hand out for his. Steve shifts closer to her and giver her is left hand.

"Yeah. I know" Steve grumbles. He wasn't really that concerned about it all though. He liked spending time such as this with Nat and wouldn't trade it for anything. Certainly not a cooling burger, not with microwaves being a thing now.

* * *

_**The End**_

Notes: For my Fluff Bingo Prompt "Fingernail Painting" [C2]


End file.
